I saw ‘Moulin Rouge’ on Broadway and had the time of my life

Over March 4–7, incoming Editor-in-Chief Shannon Mahoney, Social Media Editor Kiser Young and I traveled to New York City for the spring College Media Association Convention. While the main purpose of this trip was to learn more about running a newspaper and how we can improve, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t planned to spend most of my time exploring the city. One of the adventures we unanimously agreed on was to see a show, because how could you go to New York and not?

So, on our second night, we sat down and decided to find last-minute tickets to see “Moulin Rouge.” Were they in the back row? Yes. Did I have the time of my life? Absolutely.

I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant about seeing the show at first — I had never seen the movie, let alone listened to the songs off the album besides Christina Aguilara’s cover of “Lady Marmalade” (amazing song, by the way). However, when we walked past the theater one night on the way to dinner, and I saw Bob the Drag Queen’s face on a poster playing the cabaret’s owner, Harold Zidler, I knew I needed to see it.

In case you didn’t know, the “Moulin Rouge” stage musical is based on the 2001 film of the same name, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, and directed by Baz Luhrmann. The story centers around the romance between Satine, a courtesan, and Christian, a penniless poet, and takes place in a fictionalized version of the actual Moulin Rouge, which is still open in Paris.

The stage version opened on Broadway in 2019, and Playbill recently announced that the show will be closing July 26.

The show is a “jukebox musical,” which means that characters sing modern, popular songs that explain a scene or a character’s emotion. Think “Mamma Mia!” or “Glee.” Instead of breaking out into original lyrics, the characters perform a mashup of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” “Material Girl” and “Single Ladies.”

Upon walking into the theater, I looked around and saw the most mesmerizing decorations that transported the audience to the world of 19th-century Paris. Velvet cloth and chandelier-inspired sconces lined the walls. The windmill that sits atop the Moulin Rouge towered over one side of the stage, while a large statue of an elephant sat on the other.

The show opened with “Welcome to the Moulin Rouge!” which, as the name suggests, introduced us to the spectacle that is the Moulin Rouge. Zidler tells us about the cabaret and the girls who dance there. The song also introduces us to Christian, an American who has just moved to Paris to enjoy the city's bohemian scene, and the Duke, whom Zidler hopes will invest in Moulin Rouge.

The next song, “The Sparkling Diamond,” is sung by Satine, the cabaret’s headliner. Throughout the number, Zidler tries to introduce Satine to the Duke and tells her she must seduce him to save the Moulin Rouge, but due to a miscommunication, she believes Christian is the Duke.

One of my favorite performances has to be “So Exciting! (Pitch Song).” Before this scene, Satine finds out the Christian is not the Duke, and through a bit of hijinks from the rest of the cast, all the main characters end up in Satine’s dressing room, where she is supposed to seduce the Duke. To cover up, the crew convinces the Duke that they were all invited to practice the new play they wanted to pitch to him. The made-up play mimics the story of the actual musical.

I will be honest, the first act is difficult to keep up with if you don’t already know the plot. There are a lot of dance breaks, song changes and flashing lights. That being said, it’s a very entertaining first act. The second act is much mellower — well, as mellow as the Moulin Rouge can be.

I enjoyed the show a lot more than I anticipated, and it didn’t hurt that I got to see Bob the Drag Queen perform. Following Bob’s run as Zidler, which ends on March 22, Megan Thee Stallion will take over the role until May 17. This will be her Broadway debut and the first time a woman has played Zidler.

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If you are in New York before the show’s closing, I recommend seeing “Moulin Rouge” if you want to enjoy a night of fun costumes, pop song mashups and a wild amount of absinthe.

Rating: 8/10

pedenae@miamioh.edu